TRI 
numerous than the females. Frequent con- 
flicts between the former are occasioned 
from this circumstance, and in the com- 
mencement of spring a male sand piper is 
said to take his station near some water, 
and run round a particular spot such a num- 
ber of times, that at, length he bares a cir- 
cular path upon the herbage. On the ap- 
pearance of a female near this spot, the 
males engage in the most animated and 
ferocious contests, and, occupied solely by 
the idea of triumphing over their rivals, 
they suffer themselves to be taken by the 
net of the fowler, who avails himself of these 
opportunities for their destruction. In Eng- 
land they are migratory, and are found frc- 
qneutly in Lincolnshire and the Isle of Ely, 
where, after being taken, they are fed for 
sale, till they at length become nearly a 
mass of marrowy substance, and are sent to 
the markets of the metropolis. 
T. vanellns, or the lapwing, is thirteen 
inches long, and of the weight of eight 
ounces. It remains in England the whole 
year; lays its eggs on the ground; and the 
female bird exercises various arts to attract 
the attention of mischievous and depredat- 
ing schoolboys from the discovery of her 
nest, and is said, with this view, even to 
pretend lameness to direct their pursuit to 
herself. In winter these birds appear in 
flocks of several hundreds, and are caught 
in great numbers, being highly esteemed for 
food. They live chiefly upon worms, which 
appear to constitute their delicious ban- 
quet, and are sometimes familiarized, and 
kept in gardens to clear them of slugs and 
worms, in search for which, both in the 
morning and evening, they are extremely 
assiduous. ^ 
T. hypoleucos, or the common sand-piper 
breeds in this country, but soon withdraws 
after the summer. It is about eight inches 
Jong, and is distinguished by its piping note 
It is found in France, Siberia, and America! 
The T. canutus is about ten inches in 
length, and weighs four ounces, and fre- 
quents the coasts of Lincolnshire, where it 
is taken in considerable numbers, and fat- 
tened for the London market. By some 
these birds are preferred to the ruff. 
TRINITY house, a kind of college be- 
longing to a company or corporation of 
seamen, who, by the King’-s charter, have 
power to take cognizance of those persons 
who destroy sea-marks, and to get repara- 
tion of such damages ; and to take care of 
other things belonging to navigation. At 
present, many in the first rank of society are 
TRI 
members of tliat community. The maafer, 
wardens, and assistants of the Trinity House, 
may set up beacons, and marks for the sea^ 
in such places, near the coasts or forelands, 
as to them shall seem meet. By a statute 
of Queen Elizabeth, no steeple, trees, or 
other tilings standing as sea marks, shall be 
taken away or cut down, upon pain that 
every person guilty of such offence, sliall 
forfeit too/, and if the person offending be 
not possessed of the value, he shall be deem- 
ed convict of outlawry. 
trinomial, or Trinomial rooi, in 
mathematics, is a root consisting of tliree 
parts, connected together by the signs -|- or 
— , as a; -f- y 2 , or a + 6 — e, .See Bi- 
nomial and Root. 
TRIO, in music, a part of a concert 
wherein three persons sing ; or more pro- 
perly a musical composition consisting of 
three parts. Trios are the finest kinds of 
composition, and these are wliat please most 
m concerts. 
TRIOPTERIS, in botany, a genus of 
the Decandria Trigyriia class and order. 
Natural order of Trihilatm. Malpighi®, 
Jussieu. Essential character: calyx five- 
parted, with two honey pores at tlie base 
on the outside; petals roundish, clawed ■ 
filaments cohering at the base; capsules 
three, one-seeded, three or four-winged. 
J here are eight species. 
TRIOSTEUM, in botany, a genus of the 
Pentandna Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Aggregatw. Caprifolia, 
Jussieu. Essential character : calyx length 
of the corolla; corolla one-petalled, almost 
equal; berry three-celled, inferior; seeds 
solitary. There are three species. 
tripartite, something divided into 
three parts, or made by three parties, as in- 
denture tripartite. 
triple time, in music, a time consist- 
ing of three measures in a bar; the two 
first of which are beht with the hand or foot 
down, and the third marked by its eleva- 
tion. 
TRIPLARIS, in botany, a genus of the 
1 riandna Trigynia class and order. Natu- 
ral order of Polygonem, Jussieu. Essential 
character: calyx very large, three, or six- 
parted; corolla three-petalled, or none; 
nut three-sided, within the ovate base of the 
calyx. There are two species; nz. T. Ame- 
ricana, and T. ramiflora. 
triplicate ratio, the ratio which 
cubes bear to one another. This ratio is to 
be distinguished from triple ratio, and may 
be thus conceived: in the geometrical 
